The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) under the co-sponsorship of the Norwegian Uyghur Committee and the Rafto Foundation, and with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will convene a youth training seminar that will take place in Oslo, Norway, from March 16 -18, 2017.

On 26 February 2018, the World Uyghur Congress in cooperation with the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), the Uyghur American Association (UAA) and the Unrepresented Nations and peoples organisation (UNPO) will hold a conference in Washington D.C. entitled ‘Religious Freedom and Cultural Values Under Siege’. The event will be held in the U.S. Congress in the Canon House Office Building and will last from 10:30 – 12:30. This conference will bring together U.S. officials and policy makers, human rights activists, academics and representatives from the Uyghur diaspora to discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation in East Turkestan and what concrete steps can be taken to address the urgent situation there.

In anticipation of UK Prime Minister ’s first official visit to China, the World Uyghur Congress calls on her government to stand firm on the UK’s outward expression of values like human rights and democracy in its foreign policy.

The WUC is deeply saddened by the news of Muhammad Salih Hajim’s death this week in a Chinese ‘re-education’ camp. Muhammad Salih Hajim had reportedly been arrested 40 days ago for peacefully practicing his religion and detained in a Chinese ‘re-education’ camp. The WUC has been informed that he was subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment during his imprisonment, which may have contributed his death.

120,000 Uyghurs Detained in ‘Re-education’ Camps in Kashgar

This week it was reported that 120,000 Uyghurs were being held in ‘re-education’ camps around the city of Kashgar alone. Radio Free Asia obtained this number from a security official in Kashgar and the WUC and Human Rights Watch have found this figure to be credible. The total number of Uyghurs detained in these camps across East Turkestan estimated to be over a million people, with almost every Uyghur family being affected by these mass detentions in some way.

In light of numerous reports of the disappearance and possible detention of a prominent religious leader and academic in the Uyghur community, Muhammad Salih Hajim, the WUC calls for clarification from the Chinese government about the status and whereabouts of Mr. Hajim. Given the widespread roundup and arbitrary detention of Uyghur academics, religious leaders and prominent figures in the community, the WUC is very concerned that Mr. Hajim may have been arrested or disappeared by the Chinese police.

By Tom Phillips – At least 120,000 members of China’s Muslim Uighur minority have been confined to political “re-education camps” redolent of the Mao era that are springing up across the country’s western borderlands, a report has claimed.

By VOA – China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang will build a “Great Wall” around its borders to prevent the infiltration of militants from outside the country, state media reported on Tuesday citing the regional governor.